Chapter 83: Ebony Nicht
Marinette Dupain-Cheng was playing video games with her parents after finishing up in the bakery and completing her homework. She left her cell phone charging in her bedroom, which is why she didn't hear several alerts. It's not until she's almost ready for bed that she checks her messages. The first ones she opens are from the B Team, explaining their theory that Adamantus is working for Hawk Moth; they tell her the evidence they have, which includes Chip's changed skin color as well as the fact he was affected by Crimson. Marinette's eyes go wide as she reads this as she realizes that the B Team have a very sound theory, and the evidence makes sense. It means that they're dealing with 12 (though they haven't seen all 12, it's easy to deduce there's twelve birthstone items) very powerful akumatized items. And as Ladybug, she really needs to break them and purify them lest they have another Stoneheart incident on their hands.
She flips through her next messages, planning on discussing this new development with Cat Noir, only to see that he already sent her a mega alert. Marinette hopes it's word on Master Fu, but it's not. She's actually highly alarmed as she reads it. Cat Noir explains that somehow, an arrow made of light impaled Plagg. Cat Noir removed the arrow, and it dissolved when he did. But Plagg is still injured and unconscious. The kwami isn't bleeding or anything, but he also isn't waking up—not even when cheese is waggled under his nose. It's clear from his messages that Cat Noir is incredibly worried about Plagg but also concerned that his identity has been compromised. "But why would they attack the kwami and not try to steal my miraculous immediately afterward?" It's revealed with Plagg down, Adrien Agreste also can't transform.
Marinette is halfway out her trapdoor as she types, telling Cat Noir she'll be right there to help. To help not only Plagg but her partner who can't transform and defend himself, who might be in the sights of a secret sniper right at that moment. Cat Noir immediately replies and tells her not to. If he is compromised, it's not safe for her to show up near him. "Besides, you don't know where I live." Marinette freezes at that point, remembering that as Ladybug, she's not supposed to know that Adrien is Cat Noir.
Tikki is also able to reason with Marinette, getting her to calm down. That reminds Marinette, and she types back to Cat Noir/Adrien that at one point, Tikki did get sick and Master Fu was able to heal her. She's sure Plagg can be healed too. Cat Noir replies, pointing out that Master Fu has been captured and that they have no idea where the Western Order took him. If they need to save Master Fu to save Plagg…he'd be of no help since he can't transform. Marinette reminds him they have the grimoire. Maybe the answer is in there. That does cheer Cat Noir a bit, but he's worried sick about his kwami and fearful of the strange arrow that struck him down. Cat Noir points out that Marinette/Ladybug has the (as far as they know) only digital copy of the grimoire. It'd be up to her to translate the cure. He also wants her to take the black cat miraculous. If he has indeed been compromised, then it's not safe for the miraculous to remain with him. Marinette argues vehemently against this; she doesn't want to lose her partner. But Cat Noir is every bit as serious about his stance. Cat Noir is finally able to convince her by pulling the "great good" card. He tells her where he plans on leaving the ring and Plagg and begs her to watch over them both. Marinette/Ladybug insists she will.
It's very late at the Agreste manor. Adrien pops his head out of his bedroom and notes that Solomon is listening to his earbuds not so far away. He sneaks out of the house on foot and is nearly spotted by Felix at one point. It's tense, but Adrien is able to make it outside, where he heads to the fountain he designated. He hides his ring and Plagg in the dry open mouth of the statue and then falls back to wait and watch.
About five minutes later, Ladybug lands. She looks around, then carefully retrieves the ring and the kwami, and then leaves. Adrien is saddened as he watches them all go, but deep down he knows it's for the best. His phone vibrates from a text alert; it's Ladybug. She affirms her promise to watch over Plagg and thanks him for being her partner. She also promises that together they'll figure out some way to get Cat Noir back. She trusts him the most to watch her back; she wants no one else beside her. This does cheer Adrien up a little, and he sneaks back inside his home. Solomon notices him returning to his bedroom and does a doubt take, but Adrien plays it up as if he snuck down to the kitchen for a midnight snack.
Meanwhile, on the darkened rooftops, Angelica and Ivory are still together. Ivory questions why Angelica chose to strike "the source of Cat Noir's powers" rather than Cat Noir himself. Angelica admits she didn't feel comfortable with actually attacking a human being. Ivory isn't happy with this answer but lets it slide. She then asks the Virgo wielder what she saw when she struck her target. Angelica looks at her, confused. She didn't see anything. She guided her bow and told it where to strike. It did the rest. Ivory files this information away too—she was hoping Angelica might have been able to glean a clue about Cat Noir's whereabouts or identity.
Angelica then notices that her arm cuff is beeping. Ivory explains about the single use of a miraculous's power and how Angelica has five minutes before she transforms back and has to feed her kwami, Swanna. Angelica asks Ivory what she plans to do next. Ivory tells Angelica that she's going to watch things develop. Ivory will contact Angelica again when she needs her. For now, she's done good—Cat Noir should be removed from the picture. Until then, keep the miraculous a secret and take care of Swanna. Angelica agrees and flies home, landing in her own bedroom just as the transformation breaks. She catches the dove kwami and feeds her.
Elsewhere, Ladybug lands on Marinette's roof and transforms back. She cradles Plagg in both arms and gets him comfortable in a tiny bed. Then she pulls out Master Fu's cracked tablet, flips to the page she thinks might help, and starts doing her best to translate. She doesn't plan on sleeping at all that night.
And neither does Adrien. He sits down at his piano chair, but he's really scanning the skyline to see if anyone is watching him. He does a sweep of his room, checking for spyders as well. He lays down on his bed for a while, but he can't sleep. So he winds up getting up and searching his room for bugs—both the mechanical and the magical type. Then he walks through his home and heads to the roof, again searching to see if anyone is watching him, if anyone knows he's Cat Noir. But as far as he can tell, all of Paris is asleep. Yet he still feels uneasy. How was Plagg shot? He feels so alone—but then he remembers, he's not alone. Adrien flops down on his bed again and types a long email to Nino Lahiffe, explaining what happened.
They're not the only ones still awake in Paris. Stella Tenebrae is still awake, finishing extra credit for her anatomy homework as it is something she really enjoys. She isn't even sleepy as she's so focused. Her mother knocks on her bedroom door, insisting on knowing why Stella is still awake on a school night when it's approaching midnight. Stella insists she's doing homework, which she is, but her mother doesn't believe her. They start arguing, as they're prone to doing. Mrs. Tenebrae ends the argument definitively by flipping off Stella's lights and ordering her to bed. Stella gets rather a rather sarcastic internal monologue as her mother leaves. What? Don't want me to finish my homework? Don't think school is important? But she knows if she says it aloud, her mother will just lecture her about procrastinating. There's no winning with my mom!
Stella flops backward into her desk chair, frustration evident on her face and in her posture. The twin ear cuffs she's been wearing ever since she found it in her sports bag glimmer. They're made of amethyst. Toxicity leaks through Stella's increasingly begrudging thoughts. She blames her mother; she blames her sister for being annoying. Stress builds up as sleep becomes increasingly evasive. Stella does the only thing she knows to do when she's frustrated. She puts on her running shoes and sneaks out of the house to go jogging. Now, that probably is a rather unwise move for a fourteen year old girl in one of the largest cities in the world at midnight, but her judgment has been clouded her the amethyst ear cuffs.
Once outside her family's apartment, she starts off at a light jog. But as more and more frustrated thoughts build, she accelerates. She's mad at her father, whoever he is, for being completely removed from her life. She's mad at school for wasting her time on pointless subjects. She's mad at mornings because she hates waking up early. She's mad at Hawk Moth and everyone involved with Draco for disturbing their lives. She's mad at Ladybug and Cat Noir just because! And she's mad at herself for being so mad in the first place.
The energy of the still-functional akuma inside her earcuffs surges as the power of the night washes over her, turning her into a purple bat-themed empowered individual. Her transformation includes a dark purple hoodie-style shirt with the hood raised around her face. Her eyes are outlined with an amethyst domino mask stylized after bat wings. Jagged cloth webbing stretches between her sleeves and her torso, mimicking wings. Her outfit includes no gloves but tight pants and sneakers not unlike running shoes. A belt rides low, and a long pole staff with a pronounced hook appears in her hand. Stella stops in mid-run, shocked, examining herself all over.
Meanwhile, Nathalie Sancoeur is awoke when she senses the activation of one of her sleeper items. She immediately heads to Nicholas and wakes him to send him onto the scene as Adamantus. Nathalie apologizes for having to disturb him, but Nicholas takes it in stride. As far as he's concerned, he's a senti monster, a tool, and it's acceptable to use a tool in the middle of the night. He's a bit put off that Nathalie would apologize for this, and he sees it as a failing on his part that he's not good enough for his master. However, he has yet to voice his insecurities to his aunt, so she has no idea he's felt this way for a long while now.
During this, Stella has ducked into an alleyway, feeling safer in the shadows. She's trying not to panic as she tries to figure out if she's been akumatized and where her powers came from. She was akumatized in the past as Accelerator, and while there are parallels to that incident, it also feels different this time. After about two minutes, she's able to calm down. She tries to transform back but hasn't figured out how to yet. That causes another wave of confusion she has to fight down. But once she gets a grip on things, she decides to see what she can do.
She holds her pole upward. It elongates itself, much like Cat Noir's baton, with the hook latching onto the eaves. Stella is vaulted upward and left hanging upside down from the edge of a high rise rooftop, gazing out at the city below. And being inverted, it really is lit up like the stars in the sky. After gazing across the city of lights for a while, Stella pulls herself onto the rooftop proper.
Waiting for her there is Adamantus. She immediately brandishes her weapon in his face. Adamantus doesn't even bat an eye as he figures his defense is more than capable of handling her. He introduces himself and asks her for her name. Stella ponders and then decides to call herself "Ebony Nicht." But she keeps her hook in his face and demands to know what he wants.
Adamantus proposes an alliance. They have common goals after all. Ebony Nicht insists there's no way he knows what her goals are. So Adamantus lays it out exactly: he knows Ebony Nicht is angry, and he can predict it's because people have wronged her. She's been hurt too. Exploited by Hawk Moth, undermined by Ladybug and Cat Noir, misunderstood by her family. And now she's overwhelmed because she has these powers surging through her.
Ebony Nicht is left speechless by the accuracy of his words. Of course, Adamantus has an advantage since (female) Hawk Moth is subtly and slowly manipulating Ebony Nicht's emotional state and can see a bit into her psyche. Ebony Nicht replies by attempting to keep a stiff upper lip and demanding to know what Adamantus wants. Adamantus replies with, "it's not what I want. It's what you want." Ebony Nicht momentarily hesitates again and then declares that she wants to be the one in control of her life. No more getting yelled at by her mother for running or doing schoolwork at her own pace. No more being preyed upon by Hawk Moth. No more being dependent upon heroes. She'll be the one in control.
Adamantus promises her just that. Ebony Nicht, in her manipulated state, doesn't realize the irony of the situation and lowers her hook. She then shakes his hand, agreeing to work alongside him. Ebony immediately adds the condition that Adamantus tells her what he knows about her powers and abrupt transformation and that he doesn't expect her to be a subordinate but rather an ally who can chose what missions she accept. Adamantus agrees. Why shouldn't he? Hawk Moth can still influence things behind the scenes.
So Adamantus plays along with Ebony Nicht's demands, telling her that her powers dwelt within her all along (so as not to draw attention to her akumatized item) and that it's her powerful emotions and sense of independence that finally awoke them. He "coincidentally" happened to stumble across her while patrolling the city. And since their powers emerged in similar ways, he wants to help guide her. Ebony Nicht, in her addled state, believes all this without question.
At this point, Ebony Nicht is eager to test her powers. Adamantus initially tries to discourage her. After all, his face is well known throughout Paris. He's seen it happen in the past. He starts leaping from rooftop to rooftop, someone spots him, an Akuma Alert is sent, and the heroes appear moments later. It really makes it hard to practice with any of the birthstone users. However, Hawk Moth is actively whispering in his ear too at this point. She reminds him that his allies need experience; they need to know how to use their powers. Otherwise, they're only going to lose to Ladybug and Cat Noir. So Adamantus decides to continue to play the role of mentor to Ebony Nicht and tells her he'll teach her. "Follow me, but stay out of sight."
This gives Ebony Nicht an idea, as her abilities are whispering in the back of her mind. "Minutes to Midnight!" She sweeps her hook in a circle, and the entire city block falls into an indiscriminate black out. She's the only one who can see inside of it, and that includes Adamantus. Adamantus is startled when she does this, but they quickly get on the same page. Ebony Nicht leads Adamantus out of the darkness in the direction he indicates. "We need to meet some friends."
Of course, Hawk Moth is busy sending feelers out among her active forces, seeing who is awake and who is asleep and prodding them how she wants. She also uses her multilink-telepathy to put them all in contact with Adamantus; she then backs off and relegates herself to eavesdropping, letting Adamantus take charge, so that her wielders don't learn of her involvement.
Thanks to female Hawk Moth, All-Star Rex is the first to meet them on the darkened rooftops. He introduces himself as the opal chameleon to Ebony Nicht, and she introduces herself as the amethyst bat right back. However, Ebony Nicht does notice that there's something off about Rex. The truth being that he (and Ruddiger) are fully mind-controlled by Hawk Moth when they transform. Rex, however, lies and insists there's nothing wrong; he's just groggy as it's the middle of the night. Ebony lets it slide.
Together, the three of them head elsewhere in the city, to a less populated sector. Within a short amount of time, Selkie-shi joins them. She makes a remark about how weird it is to have Adamantus "make a phone call inside her head" in the middle of the night to ask for her help. She introduces herself to Ebony Nicht as the sapphire seal. Selkie-shi then turns to Adamantus and asks if they're going to ambush Cat Noir and Cat Noir in the middle of the night; she's still itching to make them pay for attacking Morpho. Adamantus shakes his head and says that they're gathered to practice their powers. Selkie-shi is a bit put-off that this is just "practice." Shouldn't they be doing something more?
Female Hawk Moth, is, of course, listening to all of this. Now, ideally, she could have them go out and remove the wards the Western Order set up. It would allow Mayura and Adamantus to roam freely. However, it would not only alert the Western Order to what areas they are and want to protect. The Order, in turn, would retaliate with more wards. It risks revealing Adamantus is working for Hawk Moth. (As Nathalie doesn't yet know that they already know.) And if there are more wards in the city, Adamantus/Nicholas's very existence gets threatened. But she does know Selkie-shi has a good point. So she coaches Adamantus, and he tells them that there is more that they're going to do—there's individuals they're going to target.
Before he can reveal who, Golden Scarabug joins them as the last member of the birthstones invited that night. He introduces himself as the emerald scarab to Ebony Nicht, and Adamantus goes on to fill them in on the general details of the plan. They're going to split up to watch and provoke several targets. Adamantus doesn't tell them why, but the reader will quickly realizes that these are the remaining people who received items from female Hawk Moth. Adamantus tells them the neighborhoods, and they leap into action.
Ebony Nicht proves to be incredibly stealthy, often using her Minutes 'til Midnight to remain hidden in the shadows. Adamantus is pretty good at remaining hidden too. Selkie-shi is able to slip out of sight with her Shore Surf—after all, this lot can use their special abilities multiple times. Golden Scarabug stands out pretty badly though; he's not the quietest individual when not transformed (Wayhem) and he's covered in rather reflective gold. All-Star Rex is also a bit careless due to his lack of autonomy. Which results in a tiny number of people noticing.
The first is Lila Rossi. She notices All-Star Rex leap by. Without evening contacting Madam Gros or asking for any back-up from the Western Order, she declares "Jump, Lapinna!" and transforms into Mink. As Mink, she follows All-Star Rex into the night and watches from a close distance as he rejoins Adamantus not so far from the high rise complex that was featured during the Alpha chapter.
Adamantus and Rex only talk briefly—conversation is largely unneeded when one side in mind-controlled. But it's clear to the reader that their target is in the apartment complex. And it's this delay that allows Mink to raise her mirror and take aim. "Duality!" She targets Adamantus to see if she can manipulate his darker half to join her or his lighter half to spill useful information.
Much to her utter shock, it doesn't work. "Duality" works on humans, but Adamantus simply isn't one. However, Mink doesn't know either of these things. She's just baffled that her powers failed when she knows she caught Adamantus's reflection. During this delay, Adamantus and All-Star Rex leap onto the roof of the complex. Mink counts to five for them to get out of sight and then follows them.
She's not the only person to witness the events of the night. Jean Duparc is having trouble sleeping due to stress about being an unwilling traitor to the B Team. He stares at the turquoise glove still on his hand, knowing that it keeps returning after he takes it off. (Or so he thinks—his brain actually forgets to take it off when he moves to remove it, then he temporarily forgets it's there for another couple of hours, creating the illusion it keeps teleporting back onto his hand). Something gilded catches his eye out of the bedroom window, and he sees Golden Scarabug flit by. Jean hesitates. An idea emerges, but he knows it's a bad one. Yet…yet he can't turn it down. Jean turns into Chip Bluestone and follows after Scarabug.
Scarabug meets up with Ebony Nicht and Selkie-shi; they all took different routes to get to the same place in an attempt to evade suspicion (but since Chip and Mink are now following them, it didn't work so well). The birthstone users are across the street from Raissa Deschamps' home. Raissa is asleep in bed, the ruby armlet she's started wearing still sparkling below her shoulder. Selkie-shi wonders why they're here as none of them are clear as to which apartment is the intended target. Scarabug admits he doesn't know and asks Adamantus via their long-range, linked telepathy. Adamantus urges them to just create chaos. He (and female Hawk Moth)'s hope is that a magic-based conflict will awaken the akumatized object that Raissa holds, further fleshing out their numbers.
Ebony Nicht wonders if fake fighting is the kind of chaos Adamantus has in mind. However, that's when Chip Bluestone lands in front of them. He portrays himself confidently, using all of his stage skills as a performer even though inside he's rather terrified and confused. He demands to be able to speak with Adamantus. Selkie-shi wonders who he is, and Chip gives his name, hesitates, and then follows it up by "the turquoise squirrel." Ebony Nicht figures that means he's one of them and welcomes him, but Chip insists he's not—and that's why he demands to speak with Adamantus. Selkie-shi relays the conversation to Adamantus through the group-telepathy.
Adamantus isn't far from his and All-Star Rex's goal. Just a few floors down, Vivica is asleep. And Adamantus had slipped her the pearl charm days ago. Like with Raissa, the plan is to cause chaos to see if Vivica will awaken her powers. So Adamantus really doesn't want to deal with Chip right now. He tells them to detain Chip, but Chip argues back strongly enough that Adamantus is starting to hear it through their psychic link.
And it's this distraction that gives Mink her opening. She's there, still watching Adamantus and Rex, not understanding why they're just standing there as the telepathy is all non-audible. She's also a bit miffed that her powers failed before—but since they did fail, it didn't put her on a countdown or anything. So Mink takes aim at All-Star Rex. "Duality!" And this time, since Rex is human, it works. His light-side forms at her feet. His dark side basically goes empty next to Adamantus as Rex is split in half based on his own free will and the will that Hawk Moth controls.
Speaking of Hawk Moth, she immediately senses something going awry with her opal chameleon. She briefly tells Adamantus that something is wrong, leaving Ebony Nicht, Golden Scarabug, and Selkie-shi wondering who the new female voice is in their conversation. Adamantus doesn't have time to explain as he quickly catches the dark side of Rex, who is little more than a ragdoll.
That's when the light side of All-Star Rex charges Adamantus, leaving Mink in the dust. But she's okay with this; she just sits back and watches the mayhem unfold. Rex, now in full possession of his own mental faculties, is furious about Adamantus's "sponsor" forcing him to work for her (he still doesn't know that sponsor is also (female) Hawk Moth). Rex attacks Adamantus head-on, using his "Play Ball" ability to conjure baseball-sized fireballs and clobber them towards Adamantus with his baseball bat. Rex is so furious he's hardly speaking clearly, switching between French and English and angrish since he's an American exchange student. The dark side of Rex is left flopped on the ground with no sense to move of his own autonomy.
The other three birthstone users hear the commotion telepathically and demand to know what is going on. Now, Adamantus can clearly see there's two Rexes right in front of him. But he doesn't see Mink, and he has no idea what the special ability is of the Gemini, so he has no idea that something like "Duality" is even possible. "So he thought of a lie and he thought it up quick." Adamantus tells them that Mayura sent a senti monster to ambush them. Rex was stunned in the first attack, and now that senti monster has copied his form and is attacking them. Now, light-side Rex is also still in on the telepathic conversation. He immediately protests that that didn't happen and that he was forcibly controlled, against his will, by their "sponsor." He starts to say that they're all being controlled too. However, the moment he begins spilling the beans, female Hawk Moth shuts down the entire mental link.
Which makes it sound as if the link went dead due to Adamantus being in a critical situation. Golden Scarabug immediately makes the decision for himself and the other two—they abandoned their plans to make chaos near Raissa Deschamps, and they rush to help Adamantus. Chip Bluestone is still there, and he pursues them because he wants answers. Selkie-shi very rudely (showing her personality corruption) tells him to get lost. Chip insists he's only here to talk to Adamantus, and since that's where they're going, he's going too. Ebony Nicht says she can lose him with her Minutes to Midnight, but Selkie-shi reminds her that it's indiscrete—they'd all get lost if Ebony tried that. The two bicker a bit. Scarabug tells them to chill out. Since Chip isn't actively fighting them or otherwise being antagonistic, they might as well let him follow. Selkie-shi insists that Chip is an enemy, working with Alpha and Cat Noir. They shouldn't trust him. (As she's still pretty (unjustly) pissed off at seeing Cat Noir and Ladybug being unnecessarily rough with akumatized Morpho, who was her boyfriend.) Golden Scarabug points out that they have bigger enemies to worry about, and Adamantus is in trouble. They need to prioritize right now, and their priority is clearly their leader. He hates Cat Noir as much as the rest of them (out of a warped sense of Cat Noir taking fame from his idol, Adrien Agreste), but fighting Chip Bluestone right now and leaving Adamantus in a crisis alone is not going to help anyone's agenda. Selkie-shi sulks but agrees.
Now, of course Adamantus knows light-side Rex isn't a senti monster, but he still has no idea what's going on with the two Rexes. So he pulls out his screwdrivers and begins fighting back as Rex "Plays Ball" and creates spheres of ice which he lobs at Adamantus. Adamantus tanks most of them, but one that hits him directly in the face does leave him stunned. All-Star Rex moves in to finish him off by rendering him unconscious, revealing his identity, and taking his magical item—all to Mink's sheer delight. Mink is practically eating popcorn as she watches, elated.
However, that's when Golden Scarabug, Selkie-shi, and Ebony Nicht arrive. Selkie-shi ambushes All-Star Rex (light side) by using her Shore Surf to pop up beneath him. Scarabug turns his baseball bat to gold with his Bejeweled while Rex is still off-balance. Ebony Nicht quickly checks on the unconscious Rex, assuming he's the real one and that the conscious one is a senti monster. Light side Rex insists that's not the case. He, rather passionately, cries out that he's the real Rex and that their sponsor has been forcibly controlling his mind this whole time. He shouts that they're all serving a villain who will use them all like tools without any regards for them as people. It's his passion that is his undoing, as he sounds so emotional that he sounds unstable, which basically turns him into a Cassandra Truth. Adamantus, a bit winded, gets to his feet and reminds his allies that he worked alongside All-Star Rex before, the real one. (Or rather, "real" one.) He tells them that Rex would never act this way. Rex insists that that's the lie there.
Selkie-shi says she trusts Adamantus. He came to her aid when her boyfriend was akumatized by Hawk Moth and attacked by the golden duo. Golden Scarabug stands beside her, in between Rex and Adamantus, saying he also believes in the diamond unicorn. Ebony Nicht joins them as well—she knows she's new to all of this, but Adamantus has been nothing but helpful to her. They're no longer mentally linked, but she can tell he truly wants them to develop their powers rather than succumb to them. Adamantus is rendered completely speechless by this; his heart is very clearly moved. He wonders why they can so confidently stand beside him when Ebony Nicht has only met him once and the other two have only fought by his side twice. Scarabug replies with "we're friends." Which also moves Adamantus's rather repressed emotions, but also causes another emotion to surface: guilt.
Meanwhile, Mink is just absolutely eating up the drama. Now, she knows that Rex isn't a senti monster. She wonders why Adamantus would lie about that, but she figures he doesn't know himself what happened and that light-side Rex being a senti monster was his most logical conclusion. What she does find most useful is Rex's ranting about being mind-controlled. It's the kind of lie or motive that could not have possibly come from her Duality. So where did that come from? Unlike the others, Mink is actually inclined to believe that Rex was being mind-controlled by Hawk Moth (as she knows the birthstones were created by Hawk Moth). It does fit the wielder's usual MO, and she has further evidence by dark-side Rex being a ragdoll. Mink, however, instead of doing anything to help Rex, whom she can conclude is in a terrible situation, just decides to let things go, watch, and see if there's anything else useful she can learn so that she can further manipulate her circumstances and maybe even Ivory by what information she lets leak.
Rex is furious that his words aren't reaching the others, especially as he argues that it could happen to them too. Seeing no alternative and refusing to be a puppet any longer, Rex charges them, intending to get them to back off enough so that he can escape. However, instead of being intimidated by his charge, the birthstone wielders coordinate with surprising efficiency despite having their communication advantage severed. Adamantus leaps in front of his friends to tank to lightning baseballs pitched at them (since Rex can't lift his turned-to-gold bat). Ebony Nicht catches a nearby antenna with her hook staff and leaps over the light side Rex to get behind him in order to keep on protecting the unconscious dark side Rex. Selkie-shi drives light side Rex away with her harpoon, giving Scarabug the chance to ensnare him with his flail.
During all of this, Chip Bluestone watches from not so far away, though he is anxious about the whole situation. Rex's ravings about being controlled resonates with him as Chip also has noticed gaps in his own memory. He doesn't know what to believe. This is further compounded by the fact that the birthstone users are actively showing loyalty and friendship to Adamantus, risking themselves to protect him and the unconscious Rex. They don't seem to be controlled, he notes. And Chip notes that as far as he can tell, he himself is not being controlled right now. So what does it all mean? Chip watches, confused, hoping for answers.
Rex thrashes to get free of Scarabug's flail and just about pulls the emerald user off of his feet when he does so. Rex backs away towards the roof's edge as Adamantus and Scarabug close in on him. He looks down, contemplating fleeing by free-falling, but Selkie-shi cuts off that escape by popping behind him via her Shore Surf. She flips her hood and then conjures balls of fog. "You want to play with the elements?" She throws them at him. The fog clings to his legs, make it harder for him to leap and run. All the while, Rex raves that they're working for a villain who can mind-control them. He still isn't believed. Selkie-shi latches onto his right arm and Ebony Nicht onto his left to detain him.
Chip then steps forward with Rex subdued, to everyone's surprise. Adamantus most of all as he wasn't aware Chip was active this night. "Let me ask him—just one question," Chip requests.
He's cut off by the sound of police cars below. Everyone looks panicked at this, even the unnoticed Mink. After the events of Alpha, where Jagged Stone's staff could have been seriously hurt, he (Jagged) had security upgraded on his apartment complex where many of them stay. And all the activity of empowered individuals fighting on the rooftop triggered the silent alarm, causing the police to show up. Mink immediately "nopes" her way out of there, leaving her Duality-split Rex to deal with the consequences. After all, she can't afford to have word get back to Ivory that she's been using her miraculous without permission.
Adamantus, Scarabug, Selkie-shi, Ebony, and even Chip are all alarmed by the arrival of Roger Raincomprix and the other police. Rex is still attempting to make a run for it. "You won't control me again!" Selkie-shi turns to Adamantus, asking what to do since he's the leader. Adamantus is able to calm down the fastest due to his usually stoic nature and tells them that they can't leave their ally, the unconscious Rex, the "real" Rex, here. They agree, and Scarabug helps heft dark-side Rex over his shoulder. He then asks about the fog-bound, light-side Rex. Selkie-shi then gets an idea. "He is a senti monster, right?" Before anyone can stop her, she stabs light-side Rex. Her allies cry out in alarm. He protests but is cut short when he disappears. After all, Mink's Duality can be reversed by significant damage to one of her split halves, and this qualified. Adamantus is probably the most surprised to see light-side Rex vanish as he knows he lied about the senti monster part. Nonetheless, he rolls with it as he sees the evidence as working in their favor.
Ebony Nicht tells them that they'd better orient themselves with the directions or link arms or something. "Minutes to Midnight!" She causes a black out over the rooftop, and they all stumble through the darkness to flee. Ebony, since she can see, notices Chip Bluestone remaining where he's standing, looking very lost. She pulls him after her. They all vanish into the night, leaving the cops with no leads.
Through it all, Vivica sleeps below, undisturbed, unaware she was their intended target.
They regroup together multiple blocks away, ensuring they can't be spotted. All-Star Rex wakes up groggily, back to his Hawk-Moth-controlled state. However, he insists he never was controlled, and they all believe him. They're glad to have him back. They then realize that Ebony Nicht brought Chip with them. When asked why, she says she knows he has questions.
Chip then asks if he's one of them. Are their items the same? Adamantus affirms this. Chip demands to know why Adamantus attacked him before. He's surprised when Adamantus offers a very sincere-sounding apology. Adamantus claims he thought that Chip was working for their enemies; he didn't know better then. He didn't realize that Chip was the turquoise birthstone and an ally all along. He's sorry for trying to hurt Chip, and he makes it sound convincing. This further catches Chip off guard, during which Chip reveals his uncertainties that he's being controlled to everyone present: his Discord account is always compromised, there's gaps in his memories, he can't get his item off, he's afraid he going to turn on the people he considered friends.
Ebony Nicht and the rest insist that they're not being controlled. They joined with Adamantus for their own motives. Selkie-shi's boyfriend was wronged, Golden Scarabug is sick of fake heroes like Ladybug and Cat Noir who can't properly rid their city of evil, Ebony Nicht wants to be stronger so she can become more independent. All-Star Rex claims he just wants to stop Hawk Moth, and Adamantus says that that's his goal too. To succeed where Team Ladybug and the B Team have failed for months. Chip looks hurt, claiming that they're his friends. Adamantus asks Chip point blank that why isn't he with them now if they're really friends. Chip explains he's afraid he's been compromised and that they'll be hurt being with him; he can't even depower by locking his glove away. Adamantus says that while it may be true he can't lose his glove, that doesn't mean that he's working for a villain. Adamantus spins a tale about how they all innately have had powers all along; it's those innate talents that attracted the magical items to them. Once their own inborn powers became strong enough, they manifested with the help of their items. That's why Chip can't lose the glove—his own inner talents keep calling it back to him. Ebony Nicht nods along; this makes sense to her as the newest wielder. She doesn't realize she's being subconsciously manipulated into agreeing—they all are.
Chip then lets slip that the B Team also came to the conclusion that Chip had been compromised, which Adamantus is very expertly able to twist into "the B Team never fully trusted you then" and that they don't know him all that well. "Were you ever truly friends when they abandoned you so quickly?" Chip stares at the ground. With the glove influencing him, he overlooks the fact that he's the one who walked out and that the B Team have repeatedly said that they would save him because he's one of them. Female Hawk Moth also pours it on think when she realizes that Chip isn't likely to get accepted back into the B Team (as she has no idea that the B Team still sees Chip as an ally and they want to save him). She would rather have Chip under Adamantus than insecure, broken, and/or off the field entirely.
Ebony Nicht promises Chip that they won't be like the B Team. They won't turn on him. After all, it sounds as if his powers are a lot more like theirs (with the whole "inborn talents attract magical items" lie). He's among equals here. They'll grow in power—and they'll be the ones to save Paris from Hawk Moth and the likes of Draco. They won't ever abandon him or accuse him of things he didn't do without evidence. Chip looks at all their faces: Ebony Nicht, Selkie-shi, Golden Scarabug, and Adamantus. They all look sincere and friendly. And with female Hawk Moth actively quieting the doubts in his mind, Chip sees less and less reasons not to believe them.
Adamantus holds out his hand. "Join us."
Chip Bluestone hesitates—and then accepts.
To be continued in Chapter 84: Labyrinth…